Vikas Pandey and Samira Hussain
BBC News, Prayagraj
Zoya Mateen
BBC News, Delhi
Watch: BBC Scene of India Kumbh Mela Crush
At least 30 people were killed in a crush during the largest religious rally in the world, the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival in northern India, according to officials.
The incident took place early Wednesday when faithful on the banks of the city of Prayagraj were trampled on by other pilgrims rushing to participate in a sacred day of ritual swimming.
60 other people were injured, police said. It took most of the day to official personalities to emerge, encouraging the opposition leaders to accuse the authorities of lack of transparency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented condolences to those who have lost dear beings. Many pilgrims are still looking for news from parents and friends.
Getty images
The favorite has people who look forward to lost centers and found in Kumbh Mela
Police said 90 people injured had been taken to hospitals. “Unfortunately, 30 of these followers died,” said main police officer Vaibhav Krishna said on Wednesday evening at a press conference.
He said that 25 of the dead had been identified.
Earlier in the day, BBC journalists had witnessed chaos scenes, with clothes, shoes, covers and backpacks scattered on the ground while crowds were trying to escape the accident site .
“People were going in all directions,” said an ocular witness Ayesha Mishra to the BBC. “They were growing and fell. The children were crushed by the crowd.”
The videos and photos of the scene showed people on the ground, their bodies and the bruised faces covered with mud. Some were swept away on civilians, while the ambulances were deployed inward and outside the sprawling city of the tent installed for the event.
For hours, there has been confusion on the number of people who died or injured.
The main hospital was completed and journalists were prohibited. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the state of the Uttar Pradesh – where Prayagraj is located – spoke of serious injuries, but did not mention death.
Prime Minister Modi recognized that there had been deaths but did not say how much.
“I wish the rapid recovery of all the injured,” he said in an article on X, calling the “extremely sad” incident.
The news of the accident did not do much to discourage the huge crowd that was rushing to the place – more than 50 million had bathed by 2:00 p.m., local time (08: 30 GMT), according to Government figures.
Ankit Srinivas
Authorities find it difficult to manage the vast crowds
The Kumbh Mela takes place every 12 years in Sangam, the confluence of three sacred rivers – the Ganges (Ganga), Yamuna and the legendary Saraswati. The Hindus believe that the bath in the sacred waters will clean them with sins and help them reach salvation.
While the Holy Bath is the main attraction, the event is also a dynamic carnival of faith, where people from all walks of life, including ascetics, politicians and celebrities, converge to celebrate.
Crowds from across the country – and the world – arrived in Prayagraj to participate in the festival which started on January 13 and will continue until February 26. Some came alone, others with their families, including children and the elderly.
Wednesday was the largest and largest day in the festival, the managers estimating crowds of 100 million people. It is also the day of the Shahi Snan – or the Royal Bath – which sees thousands of ascets set to ashes that plunge into the river.
Tuesday evening, crowds had already started to inflate and an air of jubilance engulfed the place. Extatic devotees have sang and danced in large colorful and colorful processions. And people were looking forward to diving the next morning.
But the celebrations quickly turned into a horror moment.
The news of the Beguin did the first time between 01:00 and 02:00, local time (7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. GMT) when many ambulances were seen to enter and leave the place.
Ankit Srinivas
Poonam Singh says that several members of his family have been missing since the favorite
Eye witnesses told the BBC that the faithful were sleeping around the barricades of the Nose of Sangam – the point of confluence of the rivers – when the crowd jumped towards them, leading to the crushing.
People started to run in confusion, many of them injured. Others have tear their clothes.
“The crowds were so huge that people were stuck on each other. Me and my family, we all fell,” said Ponam Singh, a devotee, who came with seven parents, who were all missing.
“I lost all my money, my property and I can’t find my family anywhere,” she added.
The uncertainty about what had happened added to the chaos. Many followers said they felt that something was wrong, but decided to do it anyway because there was no confirmation from the authorities about the situation.
The first announcements were made around 4:00 am, when the officials started asking people to stop going to the nose of Sangam and diving at the nearest bank they could find.
But that has not changed much – by then, the paths leading to the Sangam were already wrapped.
Tens of thousands of people continued to continue – and still did it, a few hours after the accident.
EPA
The authorities began to clean the banks of the river after the crushing
The ascetics had previously declared that they would cancel their appearance, but then advanced to bathe in Sangam, although with their reduced processions.
For many pilgrims, the search for dear beings stretched throughout the day and continued overnight. Many stayed on the accident site, where slippers, clothes and other victims were covered with mud. Occasional cries of these mourning pierced through agitation.
Anita Devi, from the central city of Jhansi, said that she had spent the whole morning looking for her husband.
“He needs his drugs but they are with me. When the crush occurred, I lost my hand and he had left in the blink of an eye,” she told the BBC.
“It’s been so many hours, but I can’t find it. This year, there are so many lost and melted centers that I don’t know where he could have gone. I pray for him to be alive and safe. “”
Ankit Srinivas
The hospital is strongly kept by the police
Crowds are common in India where there is frequent overcrowding during religious events, festivals and public spaces. Last year, more than 120 people were killed in the Hathras district, also in the Uttar Pradesh, during a religious rally.
Managers say that the situation at Kumbh Mela is now under control. But Indian opposition leaders criticized the government at the heart.
“Mald management, mismanagement and administration emphasize the VIP movement instead of the common faithful are responsible for this tragic incident,” said Rahul Gandhi, head of opposition to Parliament, in an article on X, calling the “extremely sad” incident.
Some pilgrims also blamed the authorities for the disaster.
Ayesha Mishra asked why there was no police presence where the favorite occurred.
“They were standing towards the end of the festival’s place, while many of us were crushed in the middle,” she said.
“We don’t want to take a holy drop like that,” she added. “The government should simply ask people to stay at home at this point.”
